Lately i have seen the pre-approval bammer show up on different CCs when i log into Creditkarma and got an email or two talking about pre-approvals of different cards.
Question is while i know their "approval odds" thingy is purely marketing, what do you knowlegdeable folks here make of their "pre-approved" tag? Authentic(i.e. with true connection to the issuers) or just more forceful marketing?
Here's an example below
@CreditCuriosity wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Not reliable at all. It’s just marketing and how much each partner agrees to pay them. I had excellent approval odds for US Bank Signature after they had already declined my app 😂approval odds are marketing pure and simple as they usually are getting a commission where-as a "pre-approval" in theory should of done some basic checks with the lender through some sort of API on their site of your credit profile to see if you met the basics of what they seek for approval. With that said I use CK only for monitoring my HP count and when things fall of or if I have a balance reduction on mortgage etc.. Nothing more as would never apply for a CK form them unless they offer a higher sign-up bonus that through lenders website such as the citi rewards + for 20k typ...
This up here is why I decided to post here cause Nerdwallet also has a pre-approval window that seems to be connected to the issuers, hence my curiosity in the case of CK.
Also, I have searched to see if HSBC has a pre-qualification site and I couldn't find any. So just got me more interested even though I am firmly in the garden for a few more months.
It's whichever cards lenders pay them to peddle at the moment
Lookie here
As another datapoint, I get weekly mailers from HSBC with preapproved offers and a set APR on the Cash Rewards card, and would surely be approved if I chose to take it. On Credit Karma, I am not preapproved for either of those HSBC cards, but have "Good Approval Odds" for both.
Incidentally they sit next to the American Express Blue Cash Preferred (Excellent Approval Odds even though Amex only uses Experian and CK has no access to my Experian reports) and the Credit One Visa Platinum with Cash Back Rewards (Fair Approval Odds). I know OP used the disclaimer that they knew approval odds were just marketing, but it always amuses me to see them.
@Remedios wrote:It's whichever cards lenders pay them to peddle at the moment
Lookie here
I happened to check CK this morning and had that "pre-approved" for HSBC Gold Mastercard and was ready to pounce on the HSBC website when I remembered . . . . Oh right! I already have one! 
CL claims "high success rate" on their recommendations, but at least half the times they're cards I already have. And the others they were pushing were a couple Citi cards with "very good" approval odds. Umm, no, I included a couple Citi cards in my 2010 BK7 and already tried for a Simplicity earlier this year - instant denial, which I expected with the BK still on my report, but when the letter came it said "unsatisfactory prior experience" which I took as a "don't even think about it". So no, I take a pass on CK recommendations.
